Happy warrior no more

August 22nd, 2011

It is time to put aside partisan words and wish sincere condolences to Jack Layton’s family. If anything lays bare our fragile humanity it’s the rapid, powerful illness that swept away a courageous man like Layton. Though many of us would disagree with most of his politics, his representation of Quebec and its history, one must respect the power of his convictions. It is more often the able adversary that brings out the best in us.

My hope is that commentators of all political stripes will take the high road. It’s time for the high road. (I recall the particularly inappropriate comments Noam Chomsky made at the death of William F. Buckley. Although he admitted he had little or no contact with Buckley after appearing on his show in the 1960′s, he couldn’t help getting a few digs in. Some comments by Chomsky fans on the Youtube site are little better.)

The recent MacLean’s profile on Jack Layton revealed that he was quite involved in the United Church as a young man. One might pray that he has found that peace … or another.

By John Weissenberger

This entry was posted
on Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 9:06 pm and is filed under Politics.
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